Trixie, a 250 pound adult female Loggerhead, suffered a severe boat hit to the top of her carapace (shell). The propeller of the boat cut through the carapace damaging her spine. Although she survived the initial injury and is currently in treatment, the encounter with a boat has left her paralyzed in the rear. Even with paralysis sea turtles can adapt to living a life with only two functional flippers in the wild. Sadly, she will never be able to nest again. Female sea turtles use their rear flippers to dig out the nest to lay their eggs. Without the use of her rear flippers, Trixie will be unable to dig a nest.
Trixie also had flipper tags and a microchip. This means she had been in contact with people before. The agency that tagged her provided The Turtle Hospital with information on her past. Two years ago, Trixie was tagged during a nesting survey in Melbourne Beach Florida.
Comments are closed